Sony announces the PS5 Pro with a larger GPU, advanced ray tracing, and AI upscaling

Sony’s problems are twofold:

• They are charging an absurd amount of money for a game console
• They are selling a game console that has practically no first party games for it.

If they had plenty of the latter, they could weather this. But there are still games releasing for the PS4, and they have had 1, maybe 2 PS5 releases that would qualify as first party this year (that don’t bubble down to PC).

I love the price. At $700 it's just what I needed to convince my friend who was holding out for the pro to move on to PC. $700 buys a pretty decent AMD card nowadays. Shit for $800 we're talking decent refurbished gaming PCs.

If consoles want to remain relevant in the age of the gaming PC, they have to try harder than being locked-down gaming PCs.

Free and simple multiplayer, subsidised hardware, and physical game ownership were staples of most consoles for years but now the urge to turn every device into an "everything machine" has kneecapped the very purpose of these devices.

At best, these are slightly less hassle and slightly more social than a gaming PC. At worst, they're as anti-social and user-hostile without the cost benefit that once made them genuinely preferable.

At the beginning of this generation, I planned to buy a used PS5 when the Pro version was coming. I did not know that the PS5 would have almost no games for me (especially because they released the big ones for me on PC), the base PS5 would cost even more, and most people will not upgrade to the Pro because of its absurd pricing (note because it’s not worth it, but because the market for it is likely very niche).

I guess I will just skip Sony’s platform for this generation.

I already feel like a chump for getting the PS5. There's hardly any games for it. Hell, there are some games I can't play on it. I can't imagine what's changed so drastically in the last couple years to even be worth an upgrade.

The side-by-sides are definitely diminished returns compared to earlier gens where hardware bumps had very noticeable gains.

I am sure the performance is measurably better than the base PS5, but I don't think it's $200-plus-separate-disc-drive better.

I also found the game choices they used for some of these comparisons to be odd picks. Sure you have "Made for PS5" exclusives like the new Ratchet and Clank, Returnal, and Spider-Man 2, but they also heavily showcased:

• The Last of Us Part 2

• God of War: Ragnarok

• Ghost of Tsushima

• Horizon: Forbidden West

• Control

All of those are last-gen games that received PS5 enhancements. Being on a base PS5, I already feel like I am getting the "better" experience compared to the default for those games, so why upgrade?

Wouldn't it be funny if like no one bought it

Like that's obviously not gonna happen but like wouldn't it be funny

$700 is too much money. Especially if you already have a PS5.

You could buy a pretty nice PC for $700

Awesome, I can pay $700 to play Bloodborne in 30 fps

Why not go PC at this point. Modern consoles are locked pre-built PCs and paying $700 for a locked system is crazy.

That's a lot of money for a generation that just isn't worth it.

I'm still waiting for a reason to get a PS5 at all, everything I've been interested still got released on PS4 too - except for one single game.

I really don't care for better specs anymore, I probably couldn't even tell PS4 and PS5 games apart without a side-by-side comparison. Not to mention, to see a difference at all I'd need a new TV on top of the console. Not gonna happen anytime soon.

It's a pity SONY didn't have any games to announce alongside the new console. There is nothing or there I feel like I need more power to play, and I already completed games they demoed, sometimes years ago.

Not worth it. The PS5 games catalogue is piss poor compared to when the PS4 Pro released.

Darn, I posted this earlier but sadly lemm.ee is having server issues. This'll be the main thread, then.

Official Blog Post | PS5 Pro Reveal Trailer

The PS5 Pro console will be available this holiday at a manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of $699.99 USD, £699.99 GBP, €799.99 EUR, and ¥119,980 JPY (includes tax). It will include a 2TB SSD, a DualSense wireless controller and a copy of Astro’s Playroom pre-installed in every PS5 Pro purchase. PS5 Pro is available as a disc-less console, with the option to purchase the currently available Disc Drive for PS5 separately.

The big question mark for me is that not only does it cost 800 euros, it does NOT come with a disc drive. There is no version of it with a disc drive like the PS5, you have to buy it as an accessory. I guess physical games really are going away.

This generation is already pretty weak, and it was hard to justify the original PS5 which, after a whopping four years, still has too few exclusive titles to justify the increased price point. Now they are asking for $700 (and they increased the controller's price, too), but there's still too few next gen titles, and it doesn't even come with basic features like a disc tray and a vertical mount. Not even a better form factor, it's the same old ugly case, but somehow bigger.

The only premium thing about this thing is the price tag. $700 dollars but €800, because apparently they are dominating the European market so much that they don't even have to try to sell it at an honest price point. With all those money you can just buy a PC. I honestly don't think that many people who are interested in the console market (which, historically, has always been a "low budget" entry into modern gaming) would be willing to spend so much money on one.

I guess we circled back to the PS3 era, when Sony got drunk with overconfidence. Only, this time they'll get away with it because their main competitor is somehow even more incompetent than them. I wonder if the handheld PC market will pose a threat to their dominance in the future - at the moment, it's a very small niche.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=MApTG1wapJA&si=6CIbRLjbfUwV29IT

Great video showing the difference of the two

So far I've traded in all my Playstations for the latest versions. But this price-hike and no disc-drive are a dealbreaker. Guess I'm going for a new gaming PC and a Steam Deck now. Too bad Sony, you messed up.

SEVEN HUNDRED US DOLLARS!

Sony costumers need to remind them of the PS3.

The PS5 is already a very powerful piece of hardware that most devs aren't making full use of. I honestly can't see any justification in a hardware upgrade other than some Sony execs thinking it'll be the end of the world if they don't put out something new to make some profit line continue to go up.

The price increase is insane. That does not seem to scale in comparison with what you'll get in return over a regular PS5, especially if you're gonna be forced to buy the digital editions from the PS store, which are outside of the sales often the most expensively priced versions too, I've practically only bought second-hand discs for my PS5 because of that.

So either games will start running at higher framerates on real 4K, like 60FPS and up. Or developers will get lazy and stop bothering to optimise for the older generation of PS5, which will then be an excuse to upgrade to the more expensive edition to play at 4K and/or 60FPS.

I really hope the latter won't be a thing for the sake of both players and game development, there's been enough unoptimised shit lately and I hope we can move forward again.

What do I do with my PS5 discs if I buy the Pro one day? Are they just unusable? Will I be able to get a digital copy for free since I already paid them for the disc they stopped supporting?

It seems like there's no sane migration path from PS5 with disc drive to the PS5 Pro.

Are there enough exclusives to justify buying one? 🤔

Is there an eli5 on how "ai upscaling" is less (or even equally) technologically demanding than just putting in better hardware?

SIX HUNDRED AND NINETY NINE US DOLLARS

Ah, continuing with the ugly AF design language I see. Guess I'm skipping the entire PS5 gen then. See you guys for the PS6!

They need to pump out more games to justify this. I see no reason to upgrade as mine already sits and collects dust. The controller is super awesome tho, use it all the time for my PC.

I don't know if It turns out that I was stupid for not buying the original PS5 or holding out for a Pro one even from back then.

I was looking forward to this a lot because I could get the better version from day 1 and have a lot of games to play from taking and borrowing my brother's disc games.

I guess I'll get the XBSX for GTA VI when it comes.

Not really on topic, but AI upscaling is no joke. It's actually very useful and saves alot processing power. Same with the extra fps, making a 30fps into a 60fps with ease.

What game would even justify that price tag lol and no disk tray.

gta 6 gets delayed... sony releases this early to sell more ps6's ?

At this price I’m so glad I decided to go for a slim instead of holding out for the pro. Absolutely no way.

This GPU bump is pretty big it's almost a PS6. Keeping the old Zen2 CPU is disappointing though.

I can't see how this is worth it for anyone. Are there even games that are pushing the current PS5?

No disc drive either.

I love sunny and have 2 ps5s. This thing is DOA.

How good is the GPU? Is it better than my 4070ti super boi?

gta

I'm sure at some point devs will make good use of the extra power. And by that point this puppy will be half the cost MSRP to snatch up.